Delhi woman attacked during morning walk

Police identified the victim only by her first name — Roja. She works as a human resource manager at a private firm. The attack left her with injuries to her neck and face.

delhiUpdated: May 17, 2019 03:56 IST

Hindustan Times, Delhi

The crime was captured by a surveillance camera and showed the woman resisting the attempt at her gold chain, (HTPhotos)

A morning walk in West Delhi’s Inderpuri on Monday turned out to be a nightmare for a 34-year-old woman who became the target of a snatcher, said police.

The crime was captured by a surveillance camera and showed the woman resisting the attempt at her gold chain, being pinned to the ground and thrashed by the snatcher, while his accomplice waited on a motorcycle, and the suspects fleeing after her cries got the attention of passers-by.

Police identified the victim only by her first name — Roja. She works as a human resource manager at a private firm. The attack left her with injuries to her neck and face.

Monika Bhardwaj, deputy commissioner of police (west), said that a robbery case has been registered and a team formed to catch the two snatchers.

“We detained some suspects, but the victim wasn’t able to identify them,” said the DCP.

The crime happened around 6.15 am.

The video shows two men on a motorcycle pass by her before halting a few metres behind her. The pillion rider then hurriedly walks towards the woman from behind and attempts to snatch her chain.

“I wouldn’t let go of my chain and fought back. The snatcher responded by throwing me on the ground and hitting me,” said the woman. In the meantime, the snatcher’s associate approached on his motorcycle.

By the time the woman raised an alarm, drawing the attention of an elderly man passing by, the snatcher hopped on his associate’s motorcycle and fled the spot with a part of the chain that had broken off.

At least 18 snatching cases are being reported every day on an average even as the snatchers are frequently turning violent and occasionally leaving people dead.

Last month, a 20-year-old man first lost his leg and then his life after being pulled down from a moving train by a mobile phone snatcher in west Delhi’s Mayapuri.

As snatching cases have seen a steep rise across the city, Delhi police have proposed a new law that calls for harsher sentences for the guilty.

Under the current laws, the maximum punishment for snatching is a maximum of 2 years.

The proposed law will have a provision where the maximum punishment will be 14 years. Last year 6932 cases of snatching were registered by the police. The number of cases in 2017 was 8231.